Soulful Creations

It is that time of the month in the solar calendar when Lord Shiva is said to have performed the "Dance of Bliss" a.k.a Ananda Thandavam for his devotee, Nandanar. Nandanar, born in a caste whose people where not allowed into temples, was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He was so devout that Lord Shiva ordered Nandi, the cow, to move and give way so that his devotee could get a glimpse of him. Pleased to see his devotee happy Lord Shiva or Nataraja performs his cosmic dance. Today people celebrate Lord Shiva's cosmic dance every year in the month of Margazhi (Dec-Jan in the Gregorian calendar), a full moon day (pournami) when the star is Tiruvathirai. The festival is called Thiruvathirai or Arudra Darshanam. The festival is celebrated with simple kali (rice with jaggery) and kootu (simply put mixed vegetable curry). There is a story of how this came about to be true. I have not heard this story before but you can read it here . So today my mum a lso made the dish- let me t...